Sunil Gavaskar throws his weight behind under-fire India opener KL Rahul

KL Rahul has been considered as one of India’s first choice openers ever since he burst on to the scene for the national side in 2016. But he has faced a lot of criticism of late for his slow scoring rate and that has been considered as a concern by the fans and pundits in the lead up to the T20 World Cup. But former India batter Sunil Gavaskar has brushed aside all doubts and criticisms to throw his weight behind Rahul.

Although Rahul scored an excellent fifty in the first T20I of the three-match series against India, he finished the series with only 66 runs to his name. That doesn’t seem to be enough when compared with the numbers of other batters but Gavaskar feels that Rahul’s position shouldn’t be questioned as he sacrificed his wicket in the final two T20Is.

“Well, he was doing what the team was expecting him to do which was both the times, you saw he got a fifty in the first game but in the second game, where he had to throw the bat from the first ball because it was an 8-overs-a-side game, he sacrificed his wicket for the team,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

Rahul got dismissed for 10 off six balls in the rain-curtailed second T20I. In the series deciding third T20I, Rahul could score only a solitary run having faced just four balls.

“Similarly, the asking rate in the 3rd T20I match was more than 9 runs an over, it’s never easy, you want to get off to a good start. He sacrificed his wicket over there,” Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar also feels that Rahul performs better when playing proper cricketing shots like Kohli, rather than trying to slog every ball.

“Again, like Kohli, when Rahul is playing proper cricketing shots, then he is unstoppable. But when these two players are trying to swing across the line, that is not their strength. They can play across the line when they come to the front foot and flick it that away but trying to play that cross-batter shot, they get into trouble. If they try to avoid that, they will keep scoring runs consistently,” Gavaskar explained.